Royal Colors
by BreeTheFree
Summary: One cold night at a Gathering, Bluefur bumps into a certain RiverClan tom. And there's something about him she...likes.


**My own version of how Oakheart and Bluestar met. :) I forget canon and substitute my own, haha.  
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**Hope you enjoy this one.**

**~ Bree **

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The stars twinkled brightly in a deep indigo sky, with the moon giving off its silver light on the snowy forest below. Every patch of snow was washed with silver as the ThunderClan cats quickly prowled through their territory towards Fourtrees, where the sacred Gathering would take place.

At the end of the line was a young, blue-gray she-cat, her tail trembling with barely suppressed excitement as she followed the older warriors. She tried hard to look dignified, but it was almost impossible; this was to be her first Gathering since she became a warrior a moon ago. She skirted past a tree stump, throwing up clumps of snow behind her, and swallowed hard, smiling proudly to herself as her mind was filled with images of how the cats from the other Clans would greet her now that she was a warrior.

_"Congratulations, Bluefur!"_

_"You'll be the greatest warrior in the forest, Bluefur!"_

_"I can hardly tell that you were an apprentice just last moon!"_

_"Well done!"_

Somebody gave a hardy nudge to the shoulder. Bluefur stumbled and frowned, swinging her head to fix a hot blue glare at the tom next to him, his unique pelt rippling under the light of the full moon as he slid into a crouch to return her gaze.

"Thistleclaw! What was that for?" She hissed.

"We're here now." The tom growled, jerking his head towards the gentle slope, lined with snow covered bushes that gradually led down into the hollow with the four great oaks towering high above the Great Rock. Their bare branches moving creakily as a small, chilling breeze passed.

Bluefur could already see shadowy feline shapes moving like a swarm in the hollow; the jumble of strong scents told her that RiverClan, ShadowClan, and WindClan had already arrived.

"If you weren't so busy daydreaming," Thistleclaw continued unsympathetically. "Then maybe you would have noticed. We're _warriors_ now, you know." He gave a lax flick of his whiskers. "You almost fell over the edge. You could have rolled into the hollow instead of marching in like a noble cat."

"We trained together. What gives you the right to act like you're one of the senior warriors?" Bluefur returned coolly. She tried to keep the fur on her shoulders flat, because in truth, she was embarrassed. Thistleclaw was right, but she didn't want to admit it.

Then she continued on with a much lighter tone, "This is your first Gathering as a warrior, too. How can you _not_ be excited?" But as she half-expected, Thistleclaw just turned his head away with a restless twitch of his tail, his stern yellow gaze fixed on the moving feline shapes below.

Bluefur saw a flash in the corner of her eye. Sunstar had raised his tail, signaling to the rest of the Clan to move forward. In one fluid motion the ThunderClan cats uncurled from their crouches and got back onto their paws, their lithe shapes expertly weaving through the clumps of frosty vegetation down the slope, until they successfully reached the bottom. They poured into the hollow like a silent flood.

Bluefur almost forgot to regain her composure, nearly entering into the throng of noble warriors with a spontaneous bounce, as if she was an apprentice just entering her very first Gathering.

_I'm a warrior now._ She reminded herself. With a deep breath, she puffed out her blue-gray chest and held her head high, strutting into the shadow of the Great Rock. She nodded respectfully to each cat she passed, her pelt prickling with pride at how professional she was acting.

Sunstar's shadow crept across the snow. Bluefur stopped walking, her paw hovering just above the ground as she craned her neck to watch her leader climb up onto the Great Rock to meet the three other leaders of ShadowClan, WindClan, and RiverClan. His claws scratched at the gray surface as he went. She let out a gasp of astonishment when she saw Sunstar's broad-shouldered form silhouetted by the silver light of the moon, his frame accompanied by the beautiful twinkling of the stars.

_Someday I'll be up there._ Bluefur fiercely vowed to herself, feeling the strength of her ambition flood into her paws. With her blue eyes still fixed inquisitively up at the four magnificent leaders speaking to each other in low, hurried voices, she padded on.

_WA-THUMP._

"Ugh!" Bluefur stumbled backwards, her paws throwing up flurries of snow as she tried to regain her balance. But it was no use; she had already fallen very hard on her bottom. The icy chill raced up her spine, making her shudder. And the sight of the smug tom standing in front of her, his whiskers twitching with amusement, did not help at all.

"Oops, sorry!" The tom meowed, watching with laughing green eyes as Bluefur quickly began to pick herself up, her ears flushing hot. "Let me help you." He began to lean forward, reaching with his muzzle so that he could nudge Bluefur up by her shoulder.

Bluefur did not hesitate to slap at his muzzle with a sheathed paw. "Don't you dare!" She hissed, shying away. "I can take care of myself." With a grunt, she leaped back onto her paws.

As she was shaking the snow off her coat, she could feel the stares of the other much more experienced and older cats around her. She gritted her teeth. So much for walking into the hollow like a noble warrior! She felt like a clumsy, stupid apprentice. Bluefur's eyes flitted towards the tom who had so rudely bumped into her. _It's all his fault!_

"Suit yourself." The strange tomcat purred, shrugging his shoulders. He half-turned as if he was about to leave, then paused in mid-step, swinging his broad face back towards Bluefur. "My name's Oakheart, by the way."

_Oakheart._ The name rattled around Bluefur's mind like a pile of mouse bones. It was then that she actually took the time to observe the tom more closely. His scent was fishy and smelled wet, so he was unmistakably RiverClan. He was broad-shouldered and muscular, with a reddish brown coat. His black tabby stripes reminded Bluefur of long shadows spread across the clearing of the ThunderClan camp. His eyes were a soft shade of green, like the leaves in green-leaf.

Bluefur was surprised at how quickly her anger and embarrassment had vanished as her eyes locked with the RiverClan tom's. The bright snow only made him stand out even more, his reddish coat resembling a flame.

"I'm Bluefur." She meowed callously, but she couldn't ignore the tingling in her paws.

"Nice to meet you." Oakheart replied in a more upbeat tone, this time formally dipping his head. But Bluefur caught a silly half-grin spread across his face before he turned around and padded away into the shadows, leaving a wisp of RiverClan scent behind.

The young gray warrior looked on, frozen to the spot. Any cat would have thought that she was an icicle, standing like she was, almost chest deep in the fluffy snow. But her blue eyes sparkled with something new, something more, and with a small purr in her throat she slowly turned around to join her Clanmates as Sunstar called for the Gathering to begin.

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**Aww, they remind me of teenagers. xD Review? Thanks for reading.**


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